Secrets of the Medjai Virtual Season Episode 4 - Jack of All Trades
by J-R Virtual Seasons
Summary: Alex's grandfather returns to the Medjai Academy with a sackful of trouble, both of a physical and emotional nature.
1. Chapter 1

Alex was standing in the centre of the Great Cavern with a small shield strapped onto his right arm and a blindfold over his eyes. The Minotaur was standing about ten metres away from him. Making as little noise as possible, the Minotaur drew a handful of daggers from behind his back and threw them at Alex in quick succession. The sound of metal on metal rang through the cave as Alex used the shield to deflect the daggers and send them tumbling to the floor.

'Enough,' the Minotaur said at length.

'I didn't miss any, did I?' said Alex, removing the blindfold and taking a look at his handiwork.

'No,' said the Minotaur, 'you got them all again.'

Without any warning, the Minotaur removed his right hand from behind his back and hurled the final dagger at Alex. Alex caught it in his left hand and tucked it into his belt.

'Nice try,' he said, flashing the Minotaur a grin.

'I think that must be all for today,' the Minotaur sighed. 'I really need to come up with a test that will actually provide a challenge for you. I keep wondering if there's some way to arrange for you to be imprisoned in a confined space with fifty spitting cobras... then I realise, that just wouldn't be fair on the cobras.'

Alex laughed and said, 'I thought you never made jokes.'

'I don't,' said the Minotaur.

'Listen, before I go, there's something I really need you to do for me,' said Alex. 'You know my grandpa's supposed to arrive this afternoon, don't you?'

'I am aware of the fact,' said the Minotaur.

'I want you to make sure he doesn't find out about the Scarab Amulet being down here,' said Alex. 'That concrete Ardeth ordered still hasn't arrived, so you're the only line of defence right now.'

'You think your grandfather might try to steal the Scarab Amulet?'

'It's what he was trying to do when I first met him, so I think it's possible he'll try to get hold of it again if he finds out it's here.'

'You obviously don't trust him,' the Minotaur remarked.

'Well... no, I guess I don't,' said Alex, 'if you want to look at it like that.'

'Do you blame him for the fact that the Scarab was released in the first place?'

'No, I don't. He'd been after the Amulet for years, but he had no idea about its true nature.'

'It was still his curiosity that was responsible for releasing the creature.'

'I was just as responsible as he was.'

'What makes you say that?' asked the Minotaur.

'Because I wanted to find the Scarab Amulet for him just as much as he wanted to find it for himself,' said Alex. 'I wanted to go on an adventure with my grandpa, and I wanted to show him exactly what I could do with my Medjai training and the Manacle of Osiris... and I wanted him to be impressed.'

'And was he?'

'Yes.'

'It's interesting that your grandfather had turned up in your life for the first time in thirteen years, and _you_ were the one who felt you wanted to impress _him_ ,' the Minotaur remarked.

'How do you think I should've acted towards him?' said Alex. 'Should I have given him the old "you abandoned your family, get out of my life" routine?'

'That reaction would have been perfectly understandable,' said the Minotaur. 'Your father reacted in such a way, at least at first.'

'Yeah, but he had personal feelings about the whole thing,' said Alex. 'I mean, of course he did – _he's_ the one who got abandoned! But I don't have any first-hand experience of the situation, so I've never felt like I should judge anyone for it.'

'You continue to intrigue me, Alex,' said the Minotaur. 'The way you see things... the way you _do_ things... maybe the key to saving the entire world really is contained within them.'

'I don't know about that,' said Alex. 'I'm just gonna keep doing my best, and hopefully I'll help to make some good stuff happen. Will you come to the assembly hall to greet my grandpa? After you've had your lunch, obviously.'

The Minotaur smiled at Alex and said, 'I'll be there.'

* * *

Alex entered the assembly hall to find Yanit, Fadil, Rick and the Minotaur standing in a line. Flashing them all a smile, he tacked himself on the end.

'Wow,' he said, 'it's like a royal reception committee.'

'Just what your grandfather deserves, I'm sure,' said Yanit, squeezing Alex's hand.

'Well,' said Alex, 'maybe...'

A few seconds later, Ardeth Bay entered the cave with the much anticipated visitor in tow.

'Here he is,' said Ardeth. 'On time and burdened with lost Medjai artefacts, exactly as promised.'

Jack O'Connell was carrying a large sack over one shoulder. He placed it onto the floor of the cave, then he went up to Alex and clapped him on the back.

'Good to see you again, Alex,' he said. 'So, you're the Supreme Medjai, huh? I always knew there was something special about you, right from the first moment I met you!'

'Which wasn't all that long ago,' Rick muttered under his breath.

'It's good to see _you_ again, Grandpa,' said Alex, shaking his grandfather's hand. 'I'm really glad you can finally come back and join us, now that you've finished your quest.'

'Ha-ha, yeah,' said Jack, avoiding Alex's eye as he moved along the line. 'Well, who do we have here? You're a young lady, aren't you? We didn't let your type join the Order in my day.'

'Oh, you think maybe a girl can't do this?' Yanit said, frowning. 'You think I'm not quick enough? Not smart enough? Not tough enough?'

'Hey now, I didn't say that,' said Jack, flashing Yanit a winning smile. 'It's just that I didn't realise women did it. But times change, and we must all be ready to change with them. Say, this looks like a fine young fellow to be stuck in a scrape with. What's your name, buddy?'

'Fadil, sir,' said Fadil, shaking Jack's hand.

'Please, Fadil, call me Jack,' said Jack.

'Okay, Jack,' said Fadil.

'Yanit and Fadil are my Supreme Council, Grandpa,' said Alex. 'We're a team, the three of us; we make all the important decisions about the Order together.'

'That's swell, sport,' said Jack. 'I'm sure you know exactly what you're doing.'

Jack moved on again. He offered his hand to Rick, who took hold of it and shook it.

'Hello, son,' said Jack.

'Hello, Dad,' said Rick.

'I'm glad you could be here to meet me,' said Jack.

'Ardeth suggested it,' said Rick. 'If you stick around, you can meet my wife, Evy, and her brother, Jonathan. They'll be back here to pick me up tomorrow.'

'I'll be sure to do that,' said Jack.

'Evy's pregnant,' Rick added. 'You have another grandchild on the way – one whose life you can be a part of right from the start, if you want.'

'Nothing would please me more, son,' said Jack, moving along to stand in front of the final member of his welcoming committee. 'Say, aren't you the Minotaur? I thought you lived in Crete.'

'I'm not _that_ minotaur,' the Minotaur replied, frowning. 'Surely you must realise who I am. Don't you remember your Medjai legends?'

'Sorry; I never paid as much attention to that stuff as I really should have,' Jack shrugged. 'So, what do you do around here?'

'I am Alex's personal guru,' said the Minotaur, 'and the official Medjai Treasurer.'

'Ah, then you'll be interested to see all the treasures I've brought with me!' said Jack.

'Yes,' said the Minotaur, 'I shall.'

'Why don't we all head down to the Great Cavern and take a look at what Jack has turned up for us?' Ardeth suggested. 'Perhaps we can even start to catalogue it – that is a prospect that excites me a great deal!'

'Then let's go and get on with it,' said Jack, making his way back towards his abandoned sack. 'You'll be pleased with me, Ardeth – I got all the stuff on the list, down to the last little thing!'

As Jack heaved the sack onto his back again, he did not notice a small, black object drop out of a hole in the bottom. As everyone left the cave, the ovular artefact rolled across the floor and came to rest against the wall. Slowly but surely, a crack began to appear in its jet-black surface.

* * *

Some time later, Fadil and Yanit were in the assembly hall with ten boys all aged either twelve or thirteen. The new recruits were flocking towards the main door, either side of which Yanit and Fadil had placed themselves in order to collect the wooden staffs that had recently been in use. The two new recruits at the end of the line came to a stop as they handed over their staffs.

'Are we ever actually gonna get to hit anyone with these things?' one of them asked Fadil.

'As I explained at the beginning of the lesson, James,' said Fadil, 'you will start to practise mock combat when you have mastered staff control in a gameplay situation.'

'When's that gonna be?' James persisted.

'When you are ready!' Fadil snapped. 'A Medjai must never try to run before he can walk, otherwise... well, he'll fall over.'

'Wow,' James said flatly, 'I sure hope I can be as sagacious as you someday, Fadil.'

'Just hit the showers, wise-guy,' Fadil said icily. 'You too, Iqbal.'

James and Iqbal sauntered from the hall, laughing together in low voices and giving each other occasional shoves. Fadil stared after them, frowning.

'That James is a right little toe-rag!' he said to Yanit.

'I like James,' said Yanit. 'He seems like he has a whole lot of spunk.'

'Doubtless he does,' said Fadil, raising an eyebrow, 'but spunk can cause many problems if it's directed unwisely.'

'Well, that's what _we're_ here for,' Yanit smiled, giving Fadil a punch on the arm. 'Do you want me to take the staffs back to the cupboard? I can manage them all.'

'Okay,' said Fadil, 'thanks. I'll pack away the goal-nets.'

Yanit took the staffs and left the hall, while Fadil started folding up the nets. Before he had finished the job, he caught sight of the black egg lying on the floor of the cave. It was now in two separate parts.

'What the...?' Fadil muttered.

He stooped to pick up the two halves of the egg, looked at them appraisingly for a few seconds, then put them into his pocket. The goal-nets forgotten, Fadil turned to leave the hall. He did not notice eight red eyes watching him from the darkness of the cavern roof above.

* * *

Ardeth, Jack and the Minotaur were examining and cataloguing the Medjai artefacts. Alex stood nearby, scouring a piece of paper with a puzzled expression on his face.

'There's one missing,' said Alex.

'That's impossible, sport,' said Jack. 'I definitely got them all.'

'Well they're not all here now,' said Alex. 'This is Ardeth's original list of artefacts, and one of them definitely isn't here, so if you really got them all...'

'I absolutely did,' said Jack.

'...then there's one missing,' said Alex.

'Which one, Alex?' asked Ardeth.

'Something called the Black Egg,' said Alex.

'I remember a black egg,' said Jack. 'I found it in a cave in Tibet, as I recall. It must be here somewhere...'

'It isn't,' said Alex.

'I definitely put it in the sack,' said Jack. 'I guess it must still be in there.'

He went over to where his sack was leaning against the cave wall, lifted it into his arms, started to probe its interior, and found the hole in the bottom.

'Well, would you look at that,' said Jack. 'The egg must have fallen out.'

'I expect it's in the assembly hall,' said Ardeth.

'Unless it fell out en route to the Academy,' said the Minotaur. 'That could easily lead to a most unfortunate sequence of events.'

'What sequence of events?' said Alex.

'The Black Egg is home to the Black Tarantula,' said the Minotaur. 'If the egg cracks and the monster escapes, it will immediately embark on a mindless killing spree... or so the legend says.'

'Oh my God,' Alex muttered.

'Don't worry, sport,' said Jack. 'If it dropped out in the desert, it's hardly likely to have cracked on the sand, is it? And if it's up in the assembly hall, it'll be the work of a couple of minutes to find it and bring it down here.'

'Yes,' said Alex, 'and I think I'd better go do that right now!'

* * *

Fadil took a book from the shelf above his bed and sat down at his table to read it. He turned to the back to check the index, then he flicked to the relevant page.

'The Black Egg is home to the Black Tarantula,' Fadil read under his breath. 'If the egg cracks and the monster escapes, it will immediately embark on a mindless killing spree.'

Fadil withdrew the two broken halves of the Black Egg from his pocket and placed them on the table. His eyes darted back and forth between the book and the jagged pieces of shell for several seconds. He did not notice a large black shape entering the room behind him.

'To return the Tarantula to the Egg, an incantation must be performed,' Fadil continued. 'Unfortunately, the only Medjai ever to have learned and used this incantation successfully was killed in the process of returning the Tarantula to the Egg, so the secret has been lost for all time.'

Eight red eyes now had Fadil in their sights, and two black legs were looming over him.

'Oh my God...' Fadil breathed, as he closed the book with a thud. 'I have to... I have to...'

The Black Tarantula's two front legs made contact with Fadil's shoulders. Fadil whirled around and gasped in horror at the sight that met his eyes. He dived to one side and skidded across the floor; the Tarantula was immediately on top of him.

Fadil kicked out with both feet and the Tarantula flew across the room. It crashed into the wall and slid to the ground. Fadil jumped up and hurled himself towards his staff, which was leaning against the wall at the end of the bed. He turned around and saw that the Tarantula was scuttling towards him. He whacked it with the staff; the creature retreated.

Buoyed by his success, Fadil took a step forward. The creature flexed its mandibles and spat; Fadil found that his vision was obscured by a mass of sticky web. He dropped his staff and began to claw at his eyes, whereupon the Tarantula knocked him down and stabbed its two forelegs into his shoulders. Fadil yelled in pain.

The Black Tarantula spat a large amount of webbing over Fadil's face, then it wrapped the rest of his head in the sticky substance. It then scuttled backwards down his chest. Slowly and methodically, it began to wrap up the rest of Fadil's body inch by inch.

* * *

Alex arrived in the assembly hall to find Yanit folding up a goal-net. She looked up and fixed him with a warm smile.

'Hey,' she said.

'Hey,' said Alex, sounding distracted. 'You haven't seen a black egg lying around in here, have you?'

'No,' said Yanit. 'Should I have?'

'I'm not sure,' said Alex. 'Sorry; let me help you with that net. Are the new recruits any good?'

Alex took one end of the goal-net and Yanit took the other. The walked towards each other, folding the material as they went.

'They all seem fine,' said Yanit. 'A few corners to knock off, but that's only to be expected. We need to keep a particularly close eye on James, I think. Fadil says he's a toe-rag, but I think he could be a top-quality Medjai warrior if he's nurtured in the right way.'

'I'm sure you're right,' said Alex. 'Where _is_ Fadil? Is he putting the sticks back in the cupboard?'

'No; I did that,' said Yanit. 'It's a little strange, actually; I left Fadil here folding up the nets, but when I came back he was gone and the job was only half finished.'

'I don't like the sound of that,' said Alex, adopting a frown.

'I'm sure he had a good reason for leaving,' said Yanit.

'Yes,' said Alex, 'that's what worries me.'

'Alex, you're scaring me now.'

'I'm a little scared myself, Yanit. If the Black Egg _did_ fall out in the assembly hall, and the Black Tarantula _did_ escape, and Fadil was in here by himself...'

'Oh my God, that sounds terrible!' said Yanit. 'We have to find him right now!'

'Yes,' said Alex. 'There are no screams to follow, which I guess could be a good sign. We'd better try his room first.'

* * *

Alex and Yanit arrived in Fadil's room to find the Black Tarantula wrapping the last inch of Fadil's left foot in webbing. Yanit gasped. Alex gestured at the giant spider with his right hand; the creature flew across the room and slammed into Fadil's table, knocking its contents onto the floor. Alex took from his belt the dagger that he had placed there earlier, and set to work on releasing Fadil.

'I'll keep it busy while you do that,' said Yanit, snatching up Fadil's abandoned staff from the floor.

'Okay,' said Alex, 'but be careful!'

Before the Tarantula had fully recovered its wits, Yanit was on it. The creature screeched and writhed under her attack, then it began to fight back.

'Hold on a second, buddy,' Alex said to Fadil, as he manoeuvred his knife with one hand and pulled the webbing off Fadil's face with the other. 'I'll soon have you out of here.'

Alex's knife sliced straight up the middle of Fadil's body casing, just as a huge clod of webbing came away from his nose and mouth. Fadil's lungs drew in as much air as they could; he began to cough and splutter.

'Oh, thank you!' Fadil breathed. 'Thank you, Alex. I almost suffocated in that thing!'

'I think that was the idea, man,' said Alex. 'You stay there and recover while I help Yanit.'

The Black Tarantula had now forced Yanit out of the room and into the corridor, but she was still battling valiantly against the monster. Alex started to run after them, but Fadil called him back.

'Wait, Alex!' he croaked. 'We need to get it back inside the Black Egg!'

'Do you know where it is?'

'Yes. But there's an incantation that needs to be performed, and no one knows what it is!'

'Figures,' Alex sighed. 'I guess I'll just have to do what I did with the Scarab, then – improvise and hope for the best! Where's the Egg?'

Fadil dragged himself to his feet and lurched over to his table, which now had nothing left on top of it.

'It was here!' Fadil exclaimed. 'It must have got knocked onto the floor!'

'You try to find it while I help Yanit,' said Alex, and he dashed from the room.

* * *

Yanit struck out again and again at the Black Tarantula, whilst also dodging the gobbets of web that it was continually spitting towards her eyes. After a particularly powerful strike to the head, the spider screeched and rolled over on the floor.

'Ha!' Yanit declared. 'I guess you're not so tough after all, huh?'

She took a step closer. The Tarantula looked up at her, and launched a clod of webbing right into her face. Yanit screeched as her vision was obstructed. Like Fadil before her, she dropped the stick and started clawing at her eyes.

The Black Tarantula pounced. It used its two front legs to force Yanit's arms down to her sides, then it jumped onto her front and wrapped its remaining six legs around her body. Yanit tried to move her arms, but they were firmly pinned. She felt the limbs of the giant spider squeezing her body. She struggled to draw breath as her lungs were constricted. She could feel the monster's body pressing against her own, as the legs tightened ever further. The last of her breath was forced from her lungs. It rattled up through her throat and out of her mouth. In a sickening moment of realisation, Yanit knew she was about to lose consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

There came an agonised scream. Several more agonised screams followed the first. Yanit found that she could breathe again. She pulled the remaining webbing away from her eyes and collapsed into Alex's arms, her lungs drawing in as much air as they could.

'Oh, Alex!' she exhaled into his chest. 'I... I let it trick me! I'm a simpleton! I'm a dolt! I don't deserve to be a Medjai warrior!'

'Don't be silly,' said Alex, patting her on the back.

'That's the second time you've saved my life since you came back here,' said Yanit, 'and I haven't done a single thing in recompense!'

'That's nonsense,' said Alex. 'Just to be with you is all the recompense I want, Yanit.'

With her breathing almost back to normal, Yanit pulled away slightly and smiled at Alex. He smiled back, and kissed her on the forehead. Yanit then turned to see what had become of the Black Tarantula. It was now lying on its back in the middle of the corridor, devoid of all eight of its legs, which were scattered around like driftwood.

'You cut its legs off,' Yanit remarked, sounding more than a little amused.

'I sure did,' Alex grinned at her. 'I figured there's no danger from a legless spider.'

The body of the Black Tarantula suddenly started moving, and a gobbet of web was launched at Alex's foot. Alex scowled and kicked the floored spider, which screeched in pain. Fadil then appeared from the doorway of his room, holding the two halves of the Black Egg out in front of him.

'Here they are!' he said. 'They'd rolled under the bed.'

Alex took the two halves of the shell and held them towards the defeated spider.

'Return!' he said. 'Return now, I command you!'

The Manacle of Osiris started to emit a golden glow, which quickly spread to the Black Egg. The Tarantula and all its severed limbs seemed to evaporate into thin air, and the Egg joined itself back together in Alex's hand.

'Well, that was easy enough,' said Alex, grinning at Yanit and Fadil. 'Now we just need to get this thing back where it belongs.'

* * *

Alex entered the Great Cavern, went up to the Minotaur and placed the Black Egg into his hand.

'This needs to be sealed in concrete too,' said Alex. 'Put it with the... other one.'

The Minotaur nodded, and went to do so. Ardeth's eyebrows raised as he saw the expression on Alex's face.

'Did the Black Tarantula escape?' Ardeth asked.

'I'll say it did!' said Fadil. 'It very nearly suffocated me!'

'Yes, and me,' said Yanit.

'Wow, that's... unfortunate,' said Jack. 'I'm sorry for bringing trouble to your door yet again, Alex.'

'It's okay, Grandpa; it's not your fault,' said Alex. 'It's just one of those random things that always happen in life.'

'Yeah, but even so...' said Jack, looking troubled.

'Don't give it another thought,' said Alex. 'Let's just put it behind us and get on with the rest of our lives.'

Jack opened his mouth to say something else. He closed it again. He cast a look towards the staircase, then he made a dart for it.

'Where does he think he's going?' said Fadil.

'He's not going anywhere,' said Alex, 'if I have anything to say about it!'

* * *

Alex caught up with Jack at the halfway point of the staircase; he had been forced to stop there because he had met Rick coming down from the level above.

'Well, look at that,' said Jack, moving his gaze between his son and his grandson. 'Caught between a rock and a hard place.'

'No prizes for guessing which is which,' said Rick, folding his arms across his chest.

'Where are you going, Grandpa?' said Alex.

'I'm going to pack my things and get out of your hair, sport,' said Jack. 'This is no place for me.'

'What are you talking about?' said Alex. 'This is your home now.'

'This has never really been my home,' said Jack, 'and it never will be.'

'Even though it's _my_ home now?' said Alex.

'Look, Alex,' Jack sighed, 'you don't want me hanging around here, causing you problems. I released a monster that almost killed your Supreme Council, for God's sakes!'

'You want to know what I think?' said Alex. 'I think you were always planning to slope off after you'd delivered the artefacts, and you're just using this Black Tarantula thing as an excuse.'

'You always did have a gift for telling it like it is, Alex,' said Rick, smiling slightly.

'Alex, I... it's not that I don't _want_ to stay,' said Jack. 'I just... I can't, okay?'

'No, that's not okay!' said Alex. 'Here we all are, Grandpa – three generations of O'Connells, all in one stairwell at long last. Why would you split us up again?'

'You have a chance here to be part of a family for the first time in a very long while,' said Rick. 'What about meeting Evy, and being a part of your new grandkid's life? Doesn't that mean anything to you?'

'Look, son,' said Jack, 'you don't need me to tell you that I've never been a family man.'

'Ain't _that_ the truth,' said Rick.

'I know it's the truth, and I'm not proud of it,' said Jack. 'But I'm too old and set in my ways to change now.'

'That's nonsense,' said Alex. 'Plus it's lazy and it's cowardly! Maybe I was wrong about you, Jack – maybe you're not worth impressing after all.'

'But Alex, you've impressed me more than anyone else I've ever met in my life!' said Jack. 'I'm proud to have you for a grandson, and of course I'll be back to see you from time to time, if you'll have me... but I just can't stay here permanently. I turned my back on the Medjai life almost forty years ago; I can't just come back and pick up where I left off.'

'You should at least stay a couple of days, so you can meet my mom and make some plans to get acquainted with the baby when it comes!' said Alex.

'Yeah,' said Rick, 'surely that's not too much to ask. I thought you said nothing would please you more, Dad.'

'Well, I...' said Jack, still sounding far from enthusiastic.

'At least sleep on it!' said Alex. 'Stay here for one night and think about everything we've said, and if you still want to leave in the morning then... well, you can.'

'All right, Alex,' said Jack. 'I'll stay the night... for you.'

'You promise you won't sneak off?'

'I promise.'

Rick stood to one side, and Jack continued his journey up the stairway. Alex came up to Rick, and put his arms around him.

'I hate to see him do this to you, sport,' said Rick, patting Alex on the back. 'Perhaps now you can see why I was so strongly against him being a part of your life in the first place.'

'I can see it very clearly, Dad,' said Alex. 'But hey, maybe he'll still come through for us.'

'Yeah,' said Rick, 'maybe.'

* * *

Yanit entered Fadil's room to find him sitting up in bed with a book in his lap.

'Hey,' she said. 'I just wanted to check you're okay after what happened earlier.'

Fadil looked up at her and smiled.

'Yes; I am fine, thank you,' he said. 'How about you?'

'Oh, I've had worse,' said Yanit. 'What is it with you and giant spiders, huh?'

'I don't know,' Fadil said with a laugh. 'I guess they're just uncontrollably attracted to me.'

'I don't know what either of us would've done without Alex,' said Yanit.

'Yes, he is quite incredible,' said Fadil. 'Well, I suppose I don't need to tell _you_ that.'

Yanit smiled, and looked down at her feet.

'I don't think I trust Jack even to a small degree,' she said. 'I hope Alex doesn't get hurt.'

'I believe that Alex would be better off without such a person as Jack in his life,' said Fadil. 'My father hurt me more than I can put into words... not so much physically, but in my mind... and I know it is wrong of me, but I can't help feeling glad that he is no longer around.'

'That's not wrong of you, Fadil.'

'It is not so much for myself that I am glad; it is for Safin, my little brother. I hope to learn from my father's mistakes; I want to be someone Safin can look up to and feel inspired by.'

'I don't think you'll have a problem there,' said Yanit, smiling at him. 'I'll leave you to your reading now.'

'Thanks for stopping by,' said Fadil. 'I'm so glad that we can still be close friends, Yanit, even after... well, even after I made such a fool of myself to you.'

'Fadil, you didn't make a fool of yourself,' said Yanit. 'You were sweet and honest and lovely, and I've never felt fonder of you than I did in that moment. You obviously have a lot of love in your heart, and I know that someday you'll find the right person to share it with.'

'Let's just hope those hordes of female recruits start arriving soon,' Fadil grinned at her. 'Ones that are older than twelve or thirteen, obviously.'

'Yes,' Yanit said significantly, 'I should think they'd have to be at least fourteen.'

'Oh!' said Fadil. 'I'm sorry, Yanit – I didn't mean to imply that you're a cradle-snatcher!'

'That's okay, Fadil,' Yanit smiled at him. 'I know what you meant. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight, Yanit.'

* * *

Alex was sitting on the edge of his bed, feeding Tut titbits from the palm of his left hand, when Yanit suddenly barged into the room.

'Oh, hey,' said Alex, reaching out to stroke his mongoose with his right hand. 'What's up?'

'Your grandfather just went up the passage from the assembly hall to the main entrance,' Yanit blurted out in a rush. 'I saw him coming out of his bedchamber and I followed him. He looked like he'd got all his stuff.'

'What?!' said Alex, jumping to his feet. 'Are you sure, Yanit?'

'Completely sure, I'm afraid,' said Yanit.

'But he made me a promise,' said Alex. 'I can't believe he'd just...'

With that, Alex dashed from the room. Yanit stared after him for a few seconds, then she sat down on the bed and started stroking Tut.

* * *

Alex burst out of the main entrance, into the moonlit desert. He quickly caught sight of Jack, walking away from the Medjai Academy across the sand. Alex ran after him, covering the distance at incredible speed with a few carefully timed leaps.

'Jack!' he called out shrilly. 'JACK! GRANDPA!'

Jack turned to face his grandson, looking uncomfortable and guilty.

'I kinda knew you'd catch up to me again, sport,' he said.

'You made me a promise!' Alex said accusingly. 'You lied!'

'Yes, I lied,' said Jack. 'You see, I never keep my word. I'm an incredibly unreliable person, Alex. Haven't you realised that by now?'

'But you don't have to be!' said Alex. 'Why don't you just stop it? Why don't you let yourself be settled and happy and part of a real family?'

'Because that's not who I am.'

'Then who _are_ you, Jack?'

'I'm a wanderer,' said Jack. 'I roam from town to town, living life without a care.'

'You can't do that forever,' said Alex. 'Don't you think it's time you settled down, especially now that you've been given the ideal opportunity to do it! How the hell old are you, anyway?'

'I'll be sixty-five next year,' said Jack.

Alex smiled, looked down at his feet and said, 'You're pretty much exactly fifty years older than me. I didn't know that.'

'Neither did I,' said Jack, 'but I guess it makes sense.'

'Yeah,' said Alex, 'I guess it does.'

'Look, sport,' said Jack, 'I'm not saying it'll _never_ be time for me to settle down – I'm just saying I'm not ready right now.'

'But... but... we're ready for you to do it, Grandpa.'

'My skills are better used in the field. Look; Ardeth gave me this map. He wants me to find the lost Cauldron of Glidno-Eldin at the centre of a labyrinth on Mykonos.'

'And... and bring it back here, right?' said Alex.

'Of course,' said Jack.

'So you really are planning to come back, then?'

'I always was, sport.'

'Why didn't Ardeth include this cauldron thing on the original list of treasures he gave you?'

'I guess he just forgot. So you see, Alex, I'll be back soon; just as soon as I've got hold of the Cauldron of Glidno-Eldin, in fact!'

Jack held out his right hand to Alex. Alex grasped it firmly and shook it, then he pulled his grandfather into a tight embrace.

'I can see I missed out on something special by not being around for the first thirteen years of your life, Alex,' said Jack. 'I won't make the same mistake with your little brother or sister – I give you my word on that.'

'But you never keep your word,' said Alex.

Jack pulled away from Alex, gave him a wistful smile, and then turned his steps back towards the open desert. Alex stared after him for a while, then he headed home.

* * *

When Alex entered the assembly hall, he found Rick, Ardeth and the Minotaur waiting for him.

'How was the first-hand experience, Alex?' the Minotaur asked.

'Not so good,' Alex replied.

'We saw you leave,' said Ardeth, 'and we filled in the gaps for ourselves.'

'Jack's gone, right?' said Rick.

Alex nodded, then he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor.

'Alex, I hope you don't think that I persuaded him to go,' said Ardeth. 'I gave him that map because... well, because I figured...'

'I know exactly what you did, Ardeth,' said Alex. 'Jack was always going to leave – you gave him a reason to come back.'

'As if he didn't already have enough of them,' said Rick.

'That cauldron is actually worthless,' said Ardeth. 'It's really nothing more than an old, cracked pot.'

'But it'll bring Jack back here,' said Rick, 'and then... well, who knows?'

'He says he wants to be around to meet his new grandkid,' said Alex, 'but I'm not sure I believe him.'

'Sometimes what we want is overpowered by the fear of what we don't want,' said the Minotaur.

'It's a little late for philosophy,' said Alex, looking up and smiling slightly. 'I'll see you all in the morning, okay?'

They all said their goodnights to Alex as he went on his way.

'I hate that man for what he's done to Alex,' said Rick. 'I don't really have any hatred left for what he did to me, but... well, this is different.'

'Hatred is a futile emotion, my friend,' said Ardeth.

'But a very strong one,' said the Minotaur.

'You know,' said Rick, 'sometimes I wonder whether _I've_ really done right by Alex. When he was very young, Evy and I used to be so wrapped up in each other that we barely knew what he was doing... and should I really have let him come all over the world with us on those incredibly dangerous missions, risking his life on a daily basis? Heck, if we'd kept a better eye on him, he'd never have put the Manacle of Osiris on his wrist and... well, none of this would've ever happened!'

'Alex would still have become the Supreme Medjai, even if he had gone on a different journey to reach his destination,' said Ardeth. 'The boy's fate is not your responsibility, Rick.'

'Do you really believe all that fate stuff, Ardeth?' said Rick. 'I'm still convinced it was just coincidence that we happened to find the Manacle of Osiris.'

'And that Alex just happened to decide to put it on his wrist,' said the Minotaur.

'As I believe I told you once before, my friend,' said Ardeth, 'there is a fine line between coincidence and fate. I certainly don't think you can blame yourself for Alex's insatiable tendency to put a golden manacle on his wrist every time he sees one.'

'Yeah, well, I guess not,' Rick sighed. 'But I still think Alex might wake up one day and realise that I'm just as much a failure as a father as... well, as my own father is.'

'You are talking nonsense, my friend,' said Ardeth. 'Being a father is a job that not all men are capable of – emotionally and practically, I mean, even if they are capable physically. My father was a violent drunkard. He drove my mother into an early grave, and he abused me both physically and emotionally for the first fourteen years of my life. When I was preparing to leave to join the Medjai, my father told me I shouldn't bother because I was just as much of a weak and feeble woman as my mother had been, and the Medjai would turn me away just as they had her. I have never felt such hatred and anger as I felt in that moment. I hit my father... then I hit him again... and then again... and again. I left him lying in a pool of his own blood... and I never saw him again. I don't think I actually killed him, but I never felt the slightest desire to go back and find out.'

'I'm sure all of us have experienced such a moment of madness in our lives,' said the Minotaur.

'After my Medjai training had begun, I quickly came to realise how weak I had been to give in to my base emotions in such a way,' said Ardeth. 'I vowed that I would never allow myself to behave in that way again, and I really don't think I have... but somehow, I've never been able to feel any sense of regret about what I did to my father. He must be dead by now, I suppose... he eventually drank himself to death, I should think... but quite honestly, I really don't care what happened to him.'

'What exactly are you saying to me, Ardeth?' said Rick.

'I'm saying that some men do not earn the respect of their sons,' said Ardeth. 'And I've never seen that being a problem for you, my friend.'

* * *

Alex entered his room to find Yanit sitting on his bed with Tut curled up against her left hip. Alex came over to the bed and sat himself on Yanit's right.

'You've been waiting for me this whole time,' said Alex.

'Of course I have,' said Yanit.

'Jack's gone,' said Alex.

'I'm sure he'll be back,' said Yanit.

'Yeah,' said Alex, 'I'm sure he will.'

Alex leaned his head on Yanit's shoulder. Yanit reached up to touch his face, and found that her fingers came away wet.

'Oh, Alex,' said Yanit, sounding very distressed on his behalf.

'It's okay, Yanit,' said Alex. 'I don't even know why I'm getting so upset about this. I mean, if he doesn't come back then it's his loss, right? It won't be any skin off my nose. In fact...'

'In fact what?'

'In fact, everything I really want in the world is right here, right now.'

'You mean the Medjai?'

'No.'

'You mean your closest friends?' Yanit persisted. 'Ardeth and Fadil and the Minotaur and your father and... and anyone else you might feel particularly close to?'

'No,' Alex said again, raising his head and looking into her eyes, 'I don't mean them.'

'Oh, Alex,' Yanit whispered, taking his hand in hers. 'What exactly are you saying to me?'

'I'm saying I love you, Yanit,' said Alex. 'I meant to tell you that a while ago, but then you got kidnapped by the Scarab and everything went crazy and we came back here and became a couple and... well, I guess I kinda thought it went without saying. But I was wrong – I needed to say it, and you needed to hear it. So, I'll say it again. I love you, Yanit.'

'I love _you_ , Alex,' said Yanit, wrapping her arms around his body. 'I just can't tell you how much I do, but it's... well, it's a whole lot.'

They both laughed, then they looked into each other's eyes again.

'I need to go back to my room now,' Yanit said, after a few seconds had passed in silence.

'Don't you want to stay a little longer?' said Alex. 'We could talk some more... not necessarily about my grandpa.'

'I do _want_ to stay... but I really think I _need_ to go.'

'You're starting to sound like Jack.'

'Believe me, I'm not like Jack,' said Yanit. 'There are very few certainties in this world, Alex... but I do know for certain that the one thing _I'll_ never do is leave you.'

With that, Yanit snaked her arms around Alex's shoulders, pressed her lips to his, and kissed him with a passion that she had never allowed herself to fully unleash before.

'Do you believe me, Alex?' Yanit asked, as she finally pulled away from him.

'Yes,' said Alex, 'I believe you, Yanit.'

Yanit smiled, rose to her feet, kissed Alex on the cheek and then left the room. As Alex settled himself down to sleep, Tut came to snuggle up next to him.

'What am I feeling here, buddy?' Alex whispered, as he stroked the mongoose's belly. 'Can you explain it to me?'

Tut chattered nonsensically for a few seconds, then he pointedly closed his eyes.

Alex smiled and said, 'That's your answer to everything, pal.'

Then he blew out his candle and closed his eyes.


End file.
